It's In His Kiss
by roothlace
Summary: Mary meets Tom Bertram
1. Chapter 1

_Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park_ and _Cranford_ don't belong to me

**It's In His Kiss**

It all happened so fast; Mary Bennet wasn't even sure how it had happened.

One minute she was standing on the platform – fifteen minutes early for the 6.37 train to Longbourn – thinking idly to herself how the man standing near the steps at the end of the platform looked remarkably like the famous actor Tom Bertram.

Tom Bertram was the actor who was playing Dr. Frank Harrison in the BBC Drama _Cranford_ that was currently showing on the telly. Of course, this man had a beard, longish dirty brown hair and he was wearing a hat that sort of masked his features. He must be in disguise, although who he thought he was fooling, she wasn't sure of.

The next minute, Tom Bertram, the famous actor was telling her; "it means nothing," and then he kissed her.

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"It's not him," the photographer said to his friend.

"But my source was so sure he would be on the 6.37 train," the second man replied.

"Clearly he was wrong," the first man said, "Tom Bertram would not be caught dead looking like that and he certainly wouldn't kiss a woman who looked like that."

"So much for good information," the second man said, and they left the train station.

Luckily for Mary, she didn't hear any of that. She was lost in the kiss.

Tom Bertram had kissed her.

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Tom Bertram thought he had lost the photographers – he had worn clothes that were different from his usual style and he even had a wig and a fake beard. He was standing at the end of the platform giving them time to get tired and go away. He hoped that everyone who saw him would be fooled and so far it was working.

Nobody was giving a second glance.

Nobody, that is, apart from the slim, black-haired woman standing on the platform waiting for the train. Although she was not beautiful in the classical sense of the word there was something about her that intrigued him. In spite of his better judgment he moved towards her.

From her expression he could tell that her disguise had fooled her, her expression clearly said _who do you think you're fooling with that getup?_

Without really thinking about it he walked towards her and when he spotted one of the photographers who had been chasing him he said, "this means nothing," and he kissed her.

He wasn't prepared for his reaction to the kiss. It made his heart flutter, it was an old-fashioned expression. But was no other word for it. Before he could register anymore the train pulled into the station and the woman run off into it.

Tom smiled to himself. He had to find out who she was.

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Mary nearly missed her stop, she was so busy thinking about Tom Bertram and how he had kissed her.

Her sister Elizabeth Darcy and her children were visiting for the weekend and usually Mary loved to spend time with her niece and her nephew but not tonight, she was too distracted.

"Mary, _Cranford_ is about to begin," Kitty called to her. The whole family loved the show – her father was an English Literature professor, and they were watching it together.

Mary wondered what her family would say if she told them that she had not only met but kissed Dr. Harrison from the show.

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Mary was angry.

How dare he? How dare he tell her that it means nothing and then kiss her?

Who gave men the right to say that to women?

She doubted that it had meant nothing to Martha when the Doctor kissed her in that _Dr. Who_ episode.

She doubted it had meant nothing to Jane when Ethan Hunt had kissed her in _Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol._

And she knew it hadn't meant nothing when Tom Bertram kissed her on that train platform.

Her phone vibrated distracting her from her thoughts.

_You're one hard woman to track down, Mary Bennet. Tom_

How had he found out her name and her number? She wondered.

The phone vibrated again.

_I'll see you at Marco's at ten._

How had he known about her Saturday plans?

_Stopping thinking and go to sleep_.

The cheek of the man, Mary thought to herself as she turned out the light.

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	2. Chapter 2

"Have you finished stalking poor Mary Bennet?" Edmund asked his brother.

"I wasn't stalking her," Tom replied.

"Right," Edmund replied, "you just called a girl who doesn't know you, who in fact didn't even give you her number."

Edmund would have continued to rile his brother, it was the first time in Edmund's memory that Tom had found a woman that had captured his attention for more than a few minutes and it was fun to watch him floundering, but Tom looked a bit panicked so he stopped.

"So what did she say when you called her?" Edmund asked.

"I didn't call her," Tom replied.

"You didn't – after making me break almost every rule in the book getting unauthorized surveillance tapes and finding out who she is and her number, you didn't call her." Edmund couldn't understand it at all.

"I sent her a text, several in fact."

"And what did she say?"

"Nothing," Tom replied, "she hasn't replied any of my texts."

"So how does it feel Tom Bertram, to know that there's a woman who isn't taken up by your charm and wit not to mention your beauty and fame? Are you sure she really understood who you were? That you are in fact, Tom Bertram the famous actor?"

"I don't even know why you're still here," Tom told Edmund, "don't you have a date with Fanny or something?"

"Fanny is, as you are fully aware," Edmund replied, "visiting her parents in Portsmouth, so I have nothing better to do than to find out how it went with Mary Bennet."

Tom didn't reply, almost wishing that he hadn't had to enlist Edmund's help in finding out who the mystery woman he had kissed on the train platform had been, almost but not quite.

"I mean, you met a woman kissed her and she run away," Edmund continued laughing. "Anyone would be interested in knowing how _that _ended."

"Well, now you know," Tom told him.

"One other thing," Edmund said, as Tom made his way back to his bedroom. The brothers lived together in a house near their parents' home, Mansfield Park. "I guess I should have said earlier, daddy found out."

"What?"

"I'm sure that possibility occurred to you when you asked for my help," Edmund replied, "but she must have been so important that you didn't care."

Sir Thomas Bertram was the head of a small section in MI5; in fact some people went as far as to say that he was MI5. Edmund, following in his father's footsteps had joined the British Security Services after a brief career in the Army; you could say that they worked together.

"Ed," Tom said, "you promised he wouldn't find out."

"I said that I would do my best to ensure that he didn't," Edmund pointed out. "But with all the press you have been receiving lately, you knew that Dad you would be keeping an eye on you."

"An eye?" Tom asked. "The way that man knows every little thing that happens in our lives, I'd swear that he has a satellite dedicated to following our every move."

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Sir Thomas swept into his sons' house and looked around. It was late but that was the nature of his job _and _he was sure that his sons were still up.

"Your mother misses you," he told them, "you should make it a point to visit her at least once a week."

Neither of his sons replied; they had lunch with their parents every Sunday, when they could make it and for the past three weeks that had been the case.

"So who is this Mary Bennet?" Sir Thomas, asked his eldest son, "and more importantly why were you kissing her on the train platform? What were you even doing at that train station?"

"I seemed like a good idea at the time," Tom replied. "Kissing her."

"You may think this is funny, young man," Sir Thomas replied, "but I assure it is not."

"Besides, I'm sure you know more about her than I do," Tom told his father.

"Of course I do," Sir Thomas replied, affronted, "my son, after finally putting his life in order, dresses up like a hobo and goes around kissing girls on train platforms. Of course, I had to find out who she was, for your mother's sake.

You'll be happy to know that she comes from a respectable family. Her father is a professor of English Literature. She has four sisters, three of whom are married and your Mary Bennet is single and a very nice sort of a girl, from all accounts."

"Father, stop."

Sir Thomas had the grace to look a bit embarrassed. "Are you serious about her, this Mary Bennet?"

"I just met her today," Tom reminded him. "We didn't even get a chance to talk, as I'm sure you're aware."

"Quite."

The three of them stood in silence for a while and then Sir Thomas said, "Forgive me." He had promised his children early on that he would try not to interfere in their lives, and he did, although it took a lot of restraint especially as far as Tom was concerned.

"I must say that that went better than I expected," Edmund said, after Sir Thomas had left.

"Why doesn't he investigate the girls you kiss?" Tom asked.

"Because I don't go around kissing girls on train platforms, and I am the boring son. You, my friend are the interesting famous son who will end up on the front page of a tabloid for kissing a girl."

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"So, Tom, when are you bringing Mary over for lunch?"

Tom looked at his mother in shock. That Lady had come up to see them in time for breakfast, something which she never did. He should have known that she knew everything; he sometimes wondered who the real spy in the family was; their father or their mother.

"Mother, I hardly know the woman," he told her.

"You kissed her," Lady Bertram replied, as though that put an end to that. "I can't wait to see how she turned out, I knew her mother slightly in school and I've always heard that the two elder Miss Bennets were very attractive girls, but if you kissed Mary Bennet then she must be something too."

Edmund had been sitting silently at the table, eating his breakfast, but now he burst out laughing.

There was something seriously wrong with his family, Tom thought to himself, something very wrong.

He stood up and left the room, he had to hurry if he intended to meet Mary at _Marco's_.

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	3. Chapter 3

Mary couldn't help smiling softly when she saw Tom enter _Marco's_. She had debated with herself about coming but in the end had decided that no stranger even one as famous and good-looking as Tom Bertram was going to make her change her routine.

So here she was.

Tom finally spotted her and made his way towards her table. It was situated in a secluded corner of the café because she liked her solitude when she came to _Marco's;_ the location also gave her a good view of the street outside and the people in the café while ensuring her privacy.

"Good morning," Tom said to her.

"Good morning."

"I'm glad you still decided to show up," Tom said.

"You thought your knowledge of my Saturday morning activities would make me change them?" Mary asked him.

"No, of course not," Tom replied, "and I didn't mean to come off like a stalker either."

"Of course not," Mary replied, "you just decided to invade my privacy. How did you do it anyway?"

"I have my sources," Tom replied, this wasn't going well, he thought to himself.

"Sure, rich people like you, don't do things like us mere mortals."

Tom didn't reply to that after all, he had had Edmund spy on her, not to mention the more thorough search his father had carried out. He hoped he hadn't scared her off.

"Why?" Mary asked him.

"What why?" he was stalling.

"Why did you go through the trouble of finding out my name and intruding on my Saturday morning?" Mary paused and swallowed and then asked the question she'd been dying to ask, "Why did you kiss me?"

Tom looked at her, her blue eyes were sparkling and her face was alive with colour. He decided to tell her truth, the truth which he'd only admitted to himself a little while ago.

"I kissed you because you are the most beautiful woman I've seen in a while."

No, he hadn't, Mary thought to herself, he hadn't just used that line on her. She thought of leaving immediately but asked instead. "Really?" her voice was below freezing.

"Yes," Tom replied, wishing he was like Ed. Ed knew how to talk to women; he knew how to make women like him. Ed would never have kissed a strange woman.

Mary opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by the ringing of a phone.

His phone.

Tom apologized and answered it. It was his mother. He loved his mother but sometimes he just wanted to shake her.

"Mother," he said, and saw Mary's disbelieving look. She probably thought he had planned all this.

"Tom," Lady Bertram said, "I hope you remembered to compliment the young lady. You should have thought to buy her some flowers as well. And don't forget to pay for breakfast."

"Yes, mother."

"Now let me speak to her," Lady Bertram said.

"What? No."

"Put Mary on the phone now," Lady Bertram insisted.

Tom smiled apologetically at Mary and passing the phone to her said, "my mother would like to speak to you."

Mary took the phone apprehensively. Why did his mother want to talk to her? What had Tom told his mother about their relationship? This was crazy, meeting the parents didn't happen until much later in a relationship and she and Tom didn't even have a relationship. They had only talked for five minutes. What was going on?

"Hello?"

"Mary, I'm sorry to barge in like this. This is Lady Bertram, Tom's mother."

Mary wondered what she was supposed to say in reply. _Nice to meet you?_

"My son," Lady Bertram continued without waiting for a response, "is an idiot who kissed you, bombarded you with text messages and is barging in on your Saturday morning. He really should know better."

"Yes, he should," Mary agreed.

"I hope you can forgive him," Lady Bertram continued, "but as I'm sure you're aware men don't know anything about anything. And the famous ones are even worse."

"I agree."

"But that doesn't mean you shouldn't give Tom a chance," Lady Bertram said, "after all he's just a man."

"Okay," Mary said, wondering if Lady Bertram was for real. She looked at Tom; she could see that he was very embarrassed by his mother's behavior. He looked as though he wanted the ground to swallow him.

"So I hope to see you at Mansfield Park soon," Lady Bertram said, "give me regards to your parents."

Mary handed the phone back to Tom in silence.

"I'm sorry about my mother," Tom said. "I hope she d-."

"She was very sweet," Mary interrupted him.

"Really?" Tom was surprised, "most people find her overbearing."

"Aunt Mary, Aunt Mary."

The child's calls interrupted them and they looked up to see two children running towards their table.

"This is my niece Louisa and her brother Edward," Mary introduced them to Tom. Tom smiled at them and introduced himself as Tom.

"Aunt Mary did you know that your friend Tom looks that man on TV?" Edward asked. "The one we saw yesterday."

"Yes, I think he does," Mary replied.

"But of course it's not him," Louisa added.

"Why not?" Tom asked.

"If he's on TV what would he want with Aunt Mary?" Louisa pointed out. She turned to her aunt, "you're not on TV are you?" before Mary could reply Edward said, "Mummy said to get you, she's waiting outside."

"We're still going to the park, aren't we?" Louisa asked.

"Of course we are," Mary replied.

Tom signaled for the bill and decided that it was a good time as any to leave. "I'll leave you to it then." As he stood up to leave he kissed Mary on the cheek and said, "I'll call you later."

As he made his way out he heard Louisa ask, "Why did he kiss you? Is he your boyfriend?

I must be dreaming, Mary thought to herself, such things don't happen to people like me.

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	4. Chapter 4

Mary checked on her phone for the tenth time and then made herself put it in her bedside drawer. Just because some guy had said that he would call her didn't mean that she had to start acting like a love-crazed teenager.

Despite what most people believed, Mary had been on quite a few dates in her life. Still, it was hard to drown out the voices - her mother's voice to be exact. Her mother always compared her unfavorably to her sisters. "You'll never be as pretty as Jane or even my dear Lydia; you'll never be as clever as Lizzie. Why can't you choose nice clothes like Kitty," Mrs. Bennet had told Mary more times than she could remember.

Mrs. Bennet even found fault with Mary's chosen career. Mary was a travel agent and on most days she loved her work; making people's dreams come true by helping them plan the perfect holidays and honeymoon destinations.

Mary pulled out the phone again and looked at it. There were no calls; her phone wasn't set on vibrate so she would have heard it ring.

'Get a grip,' Mary told herself. 'He's a famous guy, he probably forgot.'

It had been a great day hanging with Lizzie and her children; they'd gone to the Zoo, a theme Park and even watched a movie. Mary should have enjoyed herself and she had tried but thinking about Tom had distracted her.

Mary decided to take a long bath; it would take her mind off Tom. Before she made it to the bathroom the phone rang and Mary made herself take three deep breaths and then picked it up.

"Hello?" she answered breathlessly on the fifth ring.

"Mary, this is Tom Bertram, I hope this is not a bad time."

"Not at all," Mary replied, forcing herself to calm down.

"So how was your day?" Tom asked her.

"Great. Yours?" She couldn't believe that he had actually called her.

"Fine."

They were both silent for a while and then Tom said, "I wanted to apologize again for my mother… earlier today."

"I told you that it was fine. Mothers will be mothers."

"You sound like you speak from experience," Tom replied.

"If you're talking crazy mothers you should meet mine," Mary said, laughing.

"Is that an invitation to Longbourn? To meet the parents?"

"You mean you're actually going to wait for an invitation this time?" Mary asked him.

"I'm never going to live that down, am I?"

"Nope."

"Your mother invited me to Mansfield Park," Mary told him, "does she invite every woman you kiss?"

"No," Tom replied, "you're the first one she's ever invited."

"I guess that makes me special," Mary said.

"Very special."

"I bet you say that to every girl."

Tom decided to change the topic. "What are you doing tomorrow afternoon?"

"Nothing much," Mary told him.

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They agreed to meet in Green Park on Sunday afternoon. The only member of her family Mary had told about Tom was Lizzie and she had been very supportive.

"But can he really like me?" Mary asked her sister.

"Why wouldn't he like you?" Lizzie countered. "You're smart and funny and beautiful."

"Of course, you'd tell me that," Mary replied, "you're my sister."

"It doesn't mean that I'm not telling you the truth," Lizzie said, "and besides you told me yourself that Tom said that you were the most beautiful woman he'd seen in a while."

"That was just a line," Mary replied.

"It may not have been," Lizzie replied, "besides you're just meeting him in the park for a walk, it's not as if you're pledging your life to him."

"I guess not," Mary said.

Watching her sister, Lizzie decided to have Georgie, Darcy's sister, who was a journalist, dig further into Tom Bertram's life. She didn't want her sister to get hurt.

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"I thought you knew everything about me," Mary told Tom. He had asked her what she did for a living.

"I just found out your name and phone number," Tom told her.

"I'm a travel agent," Mary told him.

"Planning other people's holidays," Tom replied, "do you like it?"

"I do actually," Mary said, "I just sort of fell into it and I didn't think I would like it but it's coming to five years and I can't imagine doing anything else."

"Do you travel much?"

"Unfortunately not," she replied, "but this year I'm planning to go to Paris, Rome and Hong Kong."

Tom told her about his work, he had a new TV series after _Cranford_. He was going to be Captain Wentworth in a new BBC adaptation of _Persuasion_, but before that he had a stint on the stage.

"I'm quite scared, actually," Tom admitted. "I've never acted before a live audience. But at least I have a month until we begin rehearsals."

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Mary told him. "You're a great actor."

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"This is fun," Tom told Mary. They had walked along the little stream that run through the park and now they headed towards the trees.

"You sound surprised," Mary replied.

"I'm not much for outdoors," Tom admitted, "I find too much exposure to biodiversity disturbing, all those creepy crawlies and the itchy plants."

Tom and Mary were sitting down under a huge tree when Tom's phone rang. He looked at it and shook his head, it was his mother. She seemed determined to interfere on his dates with Mary. He thought of not answering but the good manners that had been drilled into him couldn't let him.

"Yes, mother."

He listened for a while and then stood up covering the mouthpiece and said to Mary, "I'm sorry, but we have to go." He listened to his mother and then hung up.

"What is it," Mary asked him, "is there something wrong with your parents?"

"No," Tom replied, he took her hand and hurried her to his car.

"It's my sister."

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	5. Chapter 5

Maria Bertram couldn't believe what was happening to her. Granted, it was all her fault but still she'd not expected things to turn out like this. It had been just a bit of harmless fun.

She had met Henry Crawford while vacationing with her boyfriend James Rushworth and her sister Julia. They had gone to their Aunt Norris' house in Brighton. Aunt Norris was their mother's sister and she had a small place by the sea in Brighton. Maria and Julia were in their third and second years at university respectively, both of them were pursuing degrees in fashion design much to their father's disappointment.

They had met and befriended Henry and Mary Crawford on their fifth day in Brighton and the five of them had began to spend almost every waking moment together. James hadn't liked Henry much, saying to whoever was willing to listen how 'short and not-very good-looking Henry was', added to which he was not as rich as James who came from money both new and old.

On the afternoon in question, Maria and Henry had left their friends and gone to London to attend a party that Henry just had to attend. While there Maria had been 'persuaded' to be part of a smaller more intimate party which had included her taking her clothes off, and making out with Henry.

The next morning Maria was front page news. The article had began with the her family history telling the readers about her illustrious father Sir Thomas, who worked with the 'government', her famous actor brother, Tom Bertram, TV's current darling, her soldier brother, Edmund and her baby sister, Julia.

Lady Bertram and Aunt Norris and even Edmund's girlfriend Fanny and her family were not forgotten and of course Maria's boyfriend, the timid James Rushworth, 'no one can really be surprised that she left the clueless but rich James Rushworth and run off with the dashing and handsome bad boy Henry Crawford, one only wonders how she was ever attracted to James'.

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Sir Thomas, who had been tipped by a source at the newspaper, had been too late to prevent the article from running but he had stopped the video, which one of Henry's friends had made, from going viral on the internet, was very angry with his daughter for opening their family up to such scrutiny from the press. To think he had been worried that Tom's success would make the family prey to the press yet the real problem had been Maria. He had convened a family meeting on Sunday afternoon to tell them what was going to happen.

Sir Thomas soon came to blame Aunt Norris for the whole mess when they discovered that it was she who had introduced the Crawfords to his daughters and she had even given Maria and Henry her car to take them to London.

James Rushworth broke up with Maria; she didn't care about that until she discovered that Henry actually had a girlfriend and that he had set up the whole thing.

For fun.

And to think she had fancied herself in love with him.

"What are we going to do?" Lady Bertram asked Sir Thomas.

"There are still a few weeks left of the summer vacation," Sir Thomas said, "they will go to our cousins in Wales." That had been the original plan for the summer vacation but the girls had pleaded with their father to let them go to Brighton instead.

"Why do I have to go?" Julia asked, "I didn't do anything wrong."

Sir Thomas didn't reply. He was thinking of transferring Maria and Julia to universities outside the UK for the reminder of their studies. He wanted them out of the way for a while.

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Mary hadn't heard from Tom after that Sunday when their date had been interrupted by the news about Maria, Tom had gone home to deal with the family drama. After that, filming of the new adaptation of _Persuasion_ as well as the rehearsals for his new play had taken up his time.

'Of course he forgot about you,' she thought to herself, 'why would he think of you now?'

Tom actually did think of Mary quite a bit and he had wanted to call her but after the newspaper articles with his whole family history including how he had apparently lorded it over his fellow actors in _Cranford _and made unreasonable demands, he had decided to keep away from Mary so as to keep the press away from her. He didn't think it would be fair to have her name dragged through the mud just because he had kissed her. So he had kept his distance – even if it was tearing him up inside.

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"Remember those tickets I said we didn't need?" Elizabeth asked Darcy.

"The ones for the new Bertram play you thought would not be worth your time?" Darcy teased. "Yes I do. Changed your mind?"

"Yes I have," Elizabeth told him.

"I guess that means that our plans for Friday have changed, I'll call Charles and cancel."

"There's no need for that," Elizabeth said, "you'll still be able to make it."

"_I_ will?"

"I'm going to go to the play with Mary."

"Mary?" Darcy was surprised, but he was sure his wife would explain it to him in time.

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"You should have told me you were coming," Tom told Mary and Elizabeth.

Elizabeth had refused to listen to all the excuses Mary had come up with not to go to the theatre. Mary had secretly wanted to watch the play and she was thrilled to be going. She hadn't thought she'd be able to watch it – it was showing for only a limited time and the tickets had been sold out.

Mary and Elizabeth were in the foyer of the theatre when Tom spotted Mary and made his way towards her.

"Mary," Tom said, smiling at her.

"You were great," Mary told him. Tom was just staring at Mary. "This is my sister Elizabeth," she told him, gesturing at Elizabeth. Tom greeted her but it was obvious that he was only interested in Mary.

"How have you been?"

Mary was about to answer when Tom was called backstage by another actor. The director was looking for him.

"Let me talk to the director," Tom told them, "wait for me. I'll be right back."

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**I can't stand Henry Crawford. He and Frank Churchill are like the worst Jane Austen characters ever... not really but anyway.**

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	6. Chapter 6

Mary stood on the balcony of the house and looked out towards the water. The Darcys home was really something spectacular and usually Mary enjoyed her visits there. Of all her sisters, Elizabeth was the one she was closest to, Darcy was a good friend as well and as for her niece and nephew – they were just the best.

Mary should have been having fun. It was a beautiful day and she was alive. Somehow that wasn't enough to put a spring in her step and it was all his fault.

Tom Bertram.

Why had he kissed her on that train platform? Why had he bothered to find her and spend time with her? And the thing that bothered her most now. Why hadn't he called her for days? Was there anything wrong?

She had last seen him two weeks ago. He had picked her up at home and they had spent the day together and they had had fun just hanging out, it had been a great day.

Tom was filming _something_ in Turkey or was it Romania and he had called her every night during the first week and then nothing. Mary knew that he was probably too busy and she understood it wasn't as if they were really dating or anything like that. I mean, Mary told herself, we've only been on two real dates and we made no promises. He doesn't have to call me all the time. Still, Mary found herself missing him and thinking about him all the time.

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Tom walked up the hill and found a spot and sat down. It really was out of this world. Every evening when he took his walks he wished Mary was here with him. As he watched the birds fly around it struck him that he hadn't talked to her in a while. The filming schedule had been crazy and Tom had been feeling a bit weird like he had a fever coming on or something. He decided that he would call her as soon as he got back to his room.

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Edmund was looking forward to the weekend – although he technically didn't have the weekend off, national security trumped free time very time, after all. But he had a good feeling about it that and the fact that Fanny was also free this weekend.

As he entered the house his phone rang.

"Bertram," he spoke into the phone.

"It's Peter."

"What's up Peter?" Peter was Tom's friend and he was supposed to be on set with him on his current project.

"I'm afraid there's been a terrible accident."

Edmund asked for more details in a daze.

Tom had been filming on a small private island in the Mediterranean actually. Tom had had a few hours off and had taken a walk. The rest of the cast had thought nothing of it as Tom had taken to spending a lot of time alone exploring the island. They hadn't realized that he was missing until the next day when he didn't show up for filming. It was later discovered that he had fallen and hit his head on a rock and passed out.

"He's been hospitalized," Peter said, "and we're flying home in a day or two. I'll call you with further details."

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Sir Thomas had used his considerable influence to ensure that the press didn't find out about Tom's accident and his subsequent return home so that Tom could recover in peace.

Lady Bertram insisted that Tom be moved back to Mansfield Park when he left the hospital. On top of having a concussion and a broken leg, Tom had also acquired a fever and he had been delirious when he had first woken up calling for his mother.

Edmund sat with his brother in Tom's old room watching his brother toss and turn in his bed. The injuries to Tom's head and leg were healing very well but the fever had been more serious than the doctor had thought at first thought and it kept Tom weak and sick. The doctor was very optimistic that with proper rest Tom would be right as rain very soon, he was young and strong after all.

"I'm surprised Mary hasn't been to see Tom," Lady Bertram pointed out. Edmund and his mother were sitting in the smaller dining room having breakfast.

"Mary?" Edmund asked absently and then he looked at his mother. "Mary Bennet? Do you mean Mary Bennet?"

"Yes."

"Why would she care about his health?"

"Why should she _care_?" Lady Bertram asked.

"I mean he called her when they had just met and even invited himself to her Saturday brunch and that was the end of it." Edmund was sure of it.

"It wasn't," his mother told him. "They've been spending quite a bit of time together. Not as much as they would have if his career and the press and even your sisters didn't interfere but they have spent some time together."

"Why don't I know all this?" Edmund asked her. "How do you know all this?"

"I'm your mother," Lady Bertram replied simply.

Edmund put the glass of juice he had been drinking from down and tried to think back on the past few months. Tom had certainly been happier since the train incident but Edmund hadn't thought much about it but it made sense. If what his mother was saying was true then Mary was probably worried sick about Tom.

Lady Bertram hoped Edmund would call Mary, she needed to know that Tom was ill. Lady Bertram sincerely hoped Edmund would call, she didn't want to break the promise she'd made to Thomas about interfering but if Edmund would not make the call she would.

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Mary was over waiting for a call from Tom. She had lived a full life before she had met him and she would continue to live her life. She didn't need him. Yet she couldn't help but wish that it was him on the other side of the phone whenever it rang.

"Hello?"

"Mary Bennet," the voice on the other side said, "this is Edmund Bertram, Tom's brother."

What was it with the Bertrams? Mary asked herself, why they all felt the need to interfere with her life was beyond her.

"Yes?" she hoped he wasn't going to give her any advice about dating his brother or anything like that or she would scream and then find him and beat him up.

"It's about Tom," Edmund said. "Thing is, he's been in an accident and…"

Mary didn't hear the rest of the words. Tom had been in an accident, he was sick and hurt.

"Mary, Mary?" she could hear Edmund's voice faintly over the rush of blood in her ears.

"Mary?"

"Is he alright?" she asked Edmund.

000

Tom opened his eyes slowly and looked around the room. A soft warm hand was encasing his free hand. He looked from the hand into Mary's face. She was smiling at him. "Hi," she said. "Hi," he replied.

He was going to be okay.

000

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	7. Chapter 7

Kitty found Mary staring at the TV in the living room; it was clear from Mary's expression that she wasn't really concentrating on house remodeling programme that was showing. "I'm surprised to find you here; I thought you'd be out spending the day with Tom."

Mary didn't answer and Kitty continued, "When do I get to meet him anyway? I don't think it's fair that Lizzy has met him and I haven't, she doesn't even live here anymore."

When Mary didn't reply, Kitty sat down by her sister and asked, "He hasn't broken up with you, has he?"

"He asked me to marry him."

"Did you say yes?" Kitty was ecstatic.

"Sorry, I mean, he told me that he was going to marry me," Mary amended thinking back to the last time she'd seen Tom.

_Mary and Tom were leaving the football stadium; Liverpool had beaten Swansea, three to one, and Tom was very excited. He was a staunch Liverpool supporter. Mary had been surprised at how much she'd enjoyed the game and by the end she was even making more noise than the noisy crowd they had sat next to._

"_I'm definitely doing this again," she told Tom. "Thank you for forcing me to come."_

"_I told you you'd enjoy it."_

"_That you did," Mary said._

"_I think it's good that you start to share my enthusiasm for football," he took her hand in his and smiled, "so that you'll have no problem with the late nights and football talk," he kissed her soundly, "such things need to be settled before marriage. Don't you think?"_

_Mary had closed her eyes but now she opened them and looked at Tom, "what?" she asked him, a bit confused, surely she was imagining things. He hadn't just used the M word._

"_I am going to marry you."_

_Mary opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. She was used to surprises from Tom, he liked the whole romantic gesture thing but telling her that he was going to marry her - that was a shock._

"_You can't be serious," she said._

"_As a heart attack," he said, without missing a beat. "I know you're not sure about what this is, or where it is going. But I just wanted to give you time to get used to the idea."_

"What did you say?"

Mary was brought back to the present by Kitty's question.

"I told him that he was mad," Mary said, she laughed hollowly, "he must be mad. He can't really want to marry me."

"Why not?"

"We hardly know each other, for one thing," Mary said, "and for another… I mean it's too ridiculous."

000

**Is This Tom's New Love?** The headline screamed and behind it was a picture of Tom and Mary sitting next to each other on a park bench.

"Did you see _The Gleaner_?" Tom asked Mary.

Mary was staring at a copy of the magazine in her room, "as a matter of fact I am looking at it right now."

"I guess the secret's out," Tom said, he was smiling widely.

"And that makes you happy?" Mary asked. She just knew that Tom was smiling, "that we're front page news?"

"I'm not happy about that, of course," Tom said, his father had called him about_ that_ already, "But I'm happy it's out. Now you won't refuse to be seen in public with me. No more hiding."

After declaring that he was going to marry her, Tom had repeated it about three more times until Mary had refused to go out with him if he kept on going on about 'marrying her' and he had sort of backed off. They went out whenever he was available and he called her every day and at least three times when he wasn't around. Mary was happy, the relationship was back on the right track – they were just good friends. No more impossible dreams.

000

Tom and Mary were sitting in his car, ready to head out for dinner, their first public outing since the newspaper article.

"You look great Mary," he said, pecking her on the cheek, "I really love the way you look in blue."

"You say that about every colour I wear," Mary laughed. Tom was always complimenting her; she liked the way she felt when she was with him.

"I love you."

There was silence and Mary asked, "You love me?" she was incredulous. In spite of herself she had fallen in love with him but sometimes she wondered if he really felt the same way about her. He had said that he was going to marry her on four separate occasions but since he'd stopped talking about it when she asked – more threatened – him to, she'd told herself that it was a fluke.

"Of course I do," he replied, "why do you think I want to marry you?"

"I didn't know," Mary told him, "I mean… I sort of hoped you did, but you never once said that you did."

Tom turned to her and looked her directly into her lovely brown eyes and said, "I love you, Mary Claribel Bennet."

"Good."

"What do you mean good?" he asked, "isn't this the point where you tell me that you love me too?"

"Only if I love you back," Mary replied, laughing. "We should get going or we'll be late."

Tom was staring at the steering wheel; he had been so sure that Mary loved him in return; in fact he had already had his grandmother's ring reset and was planning a very elaborate and outrageous proposal. Mary couldn't help the smile that covered her face at the dejected look on his face; she took his hand and kissed it. "Don't want your head to become any more swollen than it already is," she whispered. "Of course, I love you." Tom took her into his arms and kissed her. A few minutes later they both agreed that they would never make it to town in time for their dinner reservation and went back in and joined Ed and Fanny.

000

Tom's phone pinged.

_Got you didn't I?_

Tom smiled and as he thought of a reply another message came.

_I don't want an elaborate proposal. I am just a simple girl, after all._

Tom was going to kill his mother, she was the only one he'd told about his plans and she had promised to keep his secret.

_A girl always knows these things. Good night, love._

Giving up any pretence of sleep, Tom sat up and called Mary.

"I knew you were just joshing me," he began. "I could tell you loved me from the first time we kissed." Mary laughed, she did love this man. And yes, his kisses had a lot to do with it.

END

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I hope you enjoyed it as much I enjoyed writing it.


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